Receptacle-closing means



Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED STATES @PATENT OFFICE RECEPTACLE-CLOSING MEANS Walter J. Massure, Linn Township, Dallas County,

IOWa

Application April 6, 1938, Serial No. y.200,533

1 Claim.

The invention aims to provide new and improved receptacle closing means designed primarily for use on receptacles which occupy rather cramped quarters prohibiting the use of ordinary hinged covers thereon, the construction being such that the cover may be conveniently moved edgewise to and from open position. 'Ihe invention is particularly adapted for covering the tool box of a well known tractor,

said tool box being mounted upon the ily-wheel housing under the fuel tank and in such close relation with the latter as to preclude the use of an ordinary hinged cover.

With the foregoing object in view, the invention resides in the no-vel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the invention associated with the tool box of a tractor.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, the tool box being removed from the tracto-r.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation.

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, showing the cover open.

In the drawing above briefly described, a preferred construction has been shown and while this construction will be rather specifically explained, it is to be understood that variations may be made within the scope of the invention as claimed. Furthermore, while the invention is shown associated with the tool box of a Well known type of tractor, it is to be understood that it is not restricted to this particular field of use, but on the contrary may be employed with any desired receptacle.

The numeral I0 denotes the tool box, the bottcm of which is formed by the fly-wheel housing II of the tractor I2, said tool box being disposed directly below the fuel tank I3 and its fuel line I4. The sediment bulb I5 connected with the line I4, precludes even the use of a rearwardly slidable cover for the box I0, and a laterally slidable cover would hardly be practicable as it would interfere with reaching into the tool box from one side or the other of the tractor. The cover I6 which I have provided is, therefore, so mounted that while it moves edgewise to and fromv open position, it moves not only rearwardly but somewhat downwardly when opened.

The front and rear edges of the cover I6 are provided with downwardly projecting flanges Il (o1. zzo-34) vand I 8- respec'tively which normally abut the front and rear walls of the box Ill. The ends of the cover I6 are also provided with down- Wardly projecting flanges I9 which normally lie against the outer sides of the end walls of 5 said box. In the present showing, the flanges I 'I and IB are formed by downwardly bending portions of the cover I6, and the fianges I9 are formed by portions of angle iron bars secured to said cover. It is to be understood, however, 10 that the cover may be provided in any preferred manner with the desired flanges.

Two forwardly and rearwardly swingable links 20 are pivotally mounted at their lower ends as denoted at 2|, the upper ends of said links being 15 pivoted at 22 to the cover I6 near the rear edge of the latter. In the present disclosure, the pivots 22 connect the links 20 with the flanges I9. The pivots 2I may either conne-ct the lower ends of the links 20 directly with the end walls of the 20 box I0, or may connect said links with corner brackets such as 23, said brackets being secured in place by two of the ordinary bolts or the like 24 which secure the box IB to the ily-Wheel housing II. 2b

Spring means 25 are provided for yieldably holding the cover I6 do-wn upon the box I0 until said cover is upwardly swung upon the pivots 22 suiciently to allow the flange I'I to clear Athe box, whereupon the links 2li may swing rear- 30 wardly and the cover will then slide rearwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5. The flange I'I is suiiciently short for reception in the upper portion of the box I 0 when the cover I6 has been started toward open position, and said 35 flange will therefore strike the front of the rear wall of the box I0 to limit the opening movement of the cover. When the invention is used on a tractor tool box as herein disclosed, the movement of the cover I6 rearwardly and down- 40 wardly, causes it to clear the sediment bulb I5. The receptacle IU, cover I6 and the links 2l) are so related that when the ange or stop I'I abuts the rear wall of said receptacle I0, said links 20 will occupy positions upwardly diverging 45 widely with respect to said rear wall, and said cover I6 will occupy a position downwardly diverging widely with respect to said rear wall, as seen' in Fig. 5. The tractor possesses no parts interfering with movement of the links and cover 50 to these positions. Not only do the springs 25 normally hold the cover I6 closed, but they hold the flange or stop I'I engaged with the rear wall of the receptacle when said cover is open.

Ihe spring means 25 preferably consists of 55 two coiled tension springs, the lower ends of which may be connected to the pivots 2l, the upper ends of said springs being connected at 26 with the ends of the cover I6, at points between the front and rear edges of the latter. The pivots 2l and the connecting means 26 may well be formed from cotter pins and the ends of the springs 25 may be hooked into the eyes of these pins. A

From the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the object of the invention. The cover may be quickly and easily opened whenever desired, will remain in open position until again closed, and obviously, the closing operation may be performed as easily as the opening. When the cover is closed, the springs 25 hold it snugly in place to exclude foreign matter from the tool box or other receptacle.

While excellent results may be obtained from the details disclosed and they may, therefore, be followed if desired, attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

I n combination with a box having a front wall, a back wall and side walls, and bolts passing through the lower end of said back wall for securing said box to a support; two brackets secured against the rear side of said back Wall by means of said bolts, said brackets having forwardly projecting portions disposed at the outer sides of said side Walls, a cover resting on said box, cover-mounting means including a pair of links pivotally connected to said forwardly projecting portions of said brackets and to the adjacent rear portion of said cover, and downwardly projecting means on the front edge of said cover to cooperate with said back wall in limiting the opening movement of said cover.

- WALTER. J. MASSURE. 

